Kambosos vs Lomachenko

Undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. may be forced to defend against his WBO mandatory Vasily Lomachenko next unless his promoter Lou DiBella acts quickly to set up a fight with Devin Haney or one of the other ‘Kings’ in the 135-lb division.

The World Boxing Organization is expected to order IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO lightweight champion Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) to defend against WBO mandatory Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) next month in January.

Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank is pushing for the WBO to order the Kambosos vs. Lomachenko fight.

If Arum successfully gets the WBO to order the fight, Kambosos will be stuck defending against Lomachenko in a battle that he has little chance of winning.

Moreover, the money Kambosos gets for defending against Loma may or may not be as much as he’d get if he were defending against Haney or Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.

That’s why it’s important that Kambosos negotiate a fight quickly before the WBO acts.

Once the WBO makes that move to order the Kambosos-Lomachenko fight, it’ll end Kambosos’ attempt to defend his undisputed championship against one of the Five Kings that comes with the most significant offer.
If Haney had used his money to buy real estate, he could easily peddle the property to come up with the cash to get the Kambosos fight, but instead, he’s purchased jewelry.

It’s one thing to buy a simple ring, but it’s something else when you start sinking massive money into buying colossal gold chains and diamond-studded, gold watches, however, that won’t mean anything unless Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing acts quickly to negotiate the fight with Kambosos before the WBO orders him to defend against Lomachenko.

The WBO mandatory is overdue, with the belt not having been defended in over a year against one of the organization’s challengers. So the chances of Kambosos getting a delay in making his mandatory after it’s ordered are unlikely.

If Kambosos vacates his WBO title, he’ll no longer be the undisputed champion, and that’ll take away much of the interest from boxing fans in seeing him defend.

Arum Confident Talks Kambosos-Lomachenko: “Right now, there’s no lockdown in Australia. That fight would be huge in Australia, and if we did it on Sunday afternoon, it would be primetime in the United States,” said Bob Arum to iFL TV on a fight between Kambosos and Lomachenko.

“There’s a lot of money there on the fight, but if we can’t go into Australia because of the COVID, it’s a non-starter pretty much. So we’ll have to see.

“I really think the Kambosos people have the best intentions to fight Lomachenko, and Lomachenko would like to fight Kambosos and would LOVE to fight him in Australia. So we’ll see.

“Nobody is being recalcitrant. It’s just what is the effect of the COVID regulations,” said Arum on the Kambosos vs. Lomachenko potential fight in early 2022.

 

 

By Jim Calva